We pick up the story from after Yusha (AS) has successfully entered into the land of Canaan along with Bani Isra’il, notwithstanding their attitudes or behaviors. Now, time begins to pass and eventually Yusha (AS), after looking after Bani Isra’il for the next while, passes away. After this, the affairs of Bani Isra’il are managed my Kalib, or Caleb, who was the companion of Yusha (AS) and who was one of the people who tried to encourage Bani Isra’il at the time of Musa (AS). After he passed away, there were many ups and downs amongst Bani Isra’il. Their attitudes and behaviors continued to change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The prophets (AS) continued to come and, when they found themselves at odds with those prophets, or they found the prophets were telling them something that wasn’t suitable for them or wasn’t comfortable for them, they would oppose those prophets, or even persecute or kill them.
Amongst the prophets that came after Yusha (AS) was Hizqil (AS), the one regarding whom Allah (SWT) has mentioned about the story of the group of thousands of people [(O Messenger), have you thought of those who went forth from their homes for fear of death even though they were in their thousands? Allah said to them: ‘Die!’ Then He restored them to life. Indeed Allah is Bounteous to mankind; but most people do not give thanks in return.” Surah Al-Baqarah: 243] who left from their area trying to escape a plague, even though they were not supposed to leave in that way. They thought that they could save themselves and Allah (SWT) commanded them to die, so they all died. After, in the time of Hizqil (AS), when Hizqil (AS) was passing by there, Allah (AWJ) brought them back to life. This was followed by the time of Ilyas (AS) and during the time of Ilyas (AS) Bani Isra’il had started committing shirk. They had taken an idol by the name of Ba’al and they would worship this Ba’al. Ilyas (AS) invited them and admonished them; eventually, some of them repented, but others did not, and the story of Ilyas (AS) is mentioned briefly in the Qur’an in surah Saffat. Similarly, Al-Yasa (AS) came and carried out his good works, and many generations passed. During this time, because of the abuse of Bani Isra’il towards their anbiyat, their prophets and messengers, Allah (SWT) would take away their privileges and impose tyrant rulers upon them. In this way, generations and centuries passed, and according to Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari, some 460 years passed, and by this time, Bani Isra’il were in a very dire situation. Not only had they lost their lands, their people especially – their male offspring – had been taken captive, they had no wealth, they had no rights, and they were living in a terrible situation. On top of this, Allah (SWT) had stopped sending prophets to them, so they also had no guidance or direction, and normally what would happen is that the prophets (AS) came from certain bloodlines within Bani Isra’il, and the rulers and kings would come from other bloodlines. From the bloodline of prophethood, some scholars have said, is the prodigy of Levi; there was no one left, and there was just one woman who was expecting a child and they carefully looked after this woman hoping they would give birth to a prophet and eventually that is what happened. This prophet was Shamwil (AS).
Shamwil (AS) was raised by pious people in that area and while he was growing up he would stay with the person who had undertaken to look after him – his custodian. One night, Jibreel (AS) came and informed him that he is now a prophet. Allah (SWT) gave him prophethood and he started working amongst Bani Isra’il, inviting them towards Allah (SWT), encouraging them to mend and repair the damage done to themselves by fixing their beliefs and correcting their submission to Allah (SWT). Some years passed and people were generally not cooperating until they became extremely desperate, and in this state of desperation, a few of them came to Shamwil (AS) and said that, “We need a king under whom we can unite so we can fight to get our land, our properties and our sons back, and restore our prosperity and affluence so we can start living normal lives.” This is where the Qur’an picks up the story. [“(O Messenger), have you thought of what happened with the elders of the Children of Israel after Moses? They asked one of their Prophets: “Set up for us a king so that we may fight in the way of Allah.” Surah Al-Baqarah] This was a group of notables from amongst Bani Isra’il, obviously after the time of Musa (AS). “Designate a prophet for us so we can fight in the way of Allah.” Shamwil (AS), who had been born into that nation and had been working amongst them, knew their nature and tendencies very well, so he countered by saying [“He said: ‘Would you possibly refrain from fighting if fighting is ordained for you?’ Surah Al-Baqarah] “Isn’t it likely that even if this king is appointed over you and fighting becomes an obligation for you, that even then you’ll turn away and not fight?” They said [“They said: ‘And why would we not fight in the way of Allah when we have been torn from our homes and our children?’” Surah Al-Baqarah] “Why wouldn’t we fight in the path of Allah now? We have lost our lands, our sons and we have nothing left to lose. Previously, when we hesitated to fight it was because we were trying to preserve something; we were trying to hold onto something. But now we’ve got nothing left, so there’s nothing preventing us from fighting to get back what we deserve and what was ours.” Allah (SWT) says [“But when fighting was ordained for them they turned back, except a few of them. Allah is well aware of the wrong-doers.” Surah Al-Baqarah] Like Shamwil (AS) predicted, when it was required for them to raise arms and to fight, most of them turned away. So, about this request for appointing a king, Allah (SWT) revealed to Shawmil (AS) that Talut will be king. This was a surprise for everyone; first of all, Talut was not very well known, he was not from an affluent family or an influential family, he was not from the bloodline of kings, traditionally, either. When he told them “Talut will be your king.”, they were taken aback and were not ready to accept this. [“And their Prophet said to them: ‘Indeed Allah has sent forth Sault (Talut) as your king.’ They said: ‘By what right shall he rule over us when we are more worthy than he to dominion, for he is not very wealthy?’” Surah Al Baqarah] “How could he possibly be a king over us?” Of course, these people who went were the influential people and they were expecting that the king would be selected amongst them. When this relatively unknown person was nominated as the king, they said “How could he be a king over us? We are more deserving and we are from those bloodlines. We have more nobility and are obviously more eligible for this. He has neither wealth nor nobility.” Shamwil (AS) responded by saying, [“He said: ‘Allah has chosen him over you and has endowed him abundantly with both intellectual and physical capacities. Allah indeed has the power to bestow dominion upon whomsoever he wills. Allah is All-Resourceful, All-Knowing.’” Surah Al-Baqarah] “Allah (AWJ) has chosen him over you. Allah (SWT) has granted him vastness in 2 things that you have less of; 1 is knowledge and understanding of battle and warfare, and the second thing is great strength.” It is mentioned that he was tall, very well built, brave, had a body that could endure battle, and was not someone to back down. Bani Isra’il was still hesitant and reluctant to accept this and they were still opposing this idea, but then Shawil (AS) told them, “Allah (SWT) is going to give you a sign that this is in fact the one who deserves to be king.”
What is this sign? Well, for generations, Bani Isra’il had a chest filled with some sacred relics, and these relics, Ulama have mentioned, were remnants of the actual tablet of the Tawrah that Musa (AS) had received, some have mentioned that the staff of Musa (AS), and other things from Musa and Harun (AS) were kept there, and whenever Bani Isra’il went into battle carrying this chest in front of them, they would always win that battle. That chest had been taken away by the Amalekites who had taken over the land of Canaan at that time, so Shawil said, [“And their Prophet said to them: ‘The Sign of his dominion is that in his reign the Ark, wherein is inner peace for you, will be brought back to you, and the sacred relics left behind by the house of Moses and the house of Aaron borne by angels. Truly that is a Sign for you, if indeed you are people of faith.’” Surah Al-Baqarah] “This chest will come back to you.” Everyone was puzzled, thinking “How would this come back to us?” So he explained to them, “That chest that has the tranquility from Allah (SWT) and the relics of Musa and Harun (AS) will be brought to you by angels who carry it.” Mufassireen have mentioned that the angels brought it in front of everyone and presented it in front of Talut. There are other narrations as well, such as that the people who captured it first tried to put it underneath one of their idols, and the next day they found it on top of their idols, then they tried to nail it down and then again the chest had been moved, so they said “Let’s send it away.” And they sent it to a village, and the people there all got some kind of sickness and disease, so they said “Let’s just send it off.” And they put it in a cart and attached it to oxen and they sent it off. These narrations are mentioned in the books of history, but in reality, we do not know for certain. What we do know is what is in the Qur’an, which says it is likely that Allah (SWT) sent this directly through the angels. Now, once that chest had reached them and they saw it with their own eyes they understood that “Indeed, this is a sign from Allah (SWT) and this man, Talut, will be our king.” Now, Shamwil (AS) is referred to in English as Samuel, and Talut is referred to as Saul, so these are the names used in biblical scriptures for these individuals.
Talut gathers his army and he organizes his ranks and whatever is required for that battle. This battle is going to take place between Bani Isra’il and the Amalekites, and the leader of the Amalekites of that time was Jalut, commonly known as Goliath. Talut takes his army and they have to march past the river Jordan. He tells them, [“When Saul (Talut) set out with his forces he said: ‘Allah will try you with a river.’” Surah Al-Baqarah: 249] “Allah (SWT) is going to test you through this river.” People were upset, and said “What do you mean, he is going to test us?” He replied, “You are not allowed to drink from this river. Those who fill their bellies and stock up on this water will not be from my army, and will not be able to proceed. Those who do not taste any of it will be with me. Yet, those who take only a handful of water will also be with me.” Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari gives a very large number of this army; he says that the army started out with 80,000 people, and when they reached the river and Talut made this announcement, the overwhelming majority of these people turned back. 76,000 of them turned back. Some say that these were soldiers who defied the orders of their commander, and they filled their bellies with the water and they stocked up with the water, and were unable to proceed from becoming so thirsty that they could not proceed. Ibn Kathir challenges this number, stating that it seems to be a disproportionately large number for an army at that time, but in any case, this was a large army, and at the river Jordan, there were people who failed that test and could not proceed any further. Then, according to Jarir Al-Tabari, 4,000 soldiers marched ahead.
When these 4,000 men arrived at the site of the battle, most of them said that the enemy army was too tough and too large in number, much better trained and much better equipped, and that they could not fight them. [“But as soon as Saul (Talut) and the believers with him went forth across the river, they said: ‘Today we have no strength to face Goliath (Jalut) and his forces.’ But those who believed that they were bound to meet their Lord said: ‘How often has a small party prevailed against a large party by the leave of Allah.’ Allah is with those who remain steadfast.” Surah Al-Baqarah] ”We have no ability nor strength to stand up to these people.” Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari says that some 3,687 went back at that time as well. They walked away and left the battlefield. So, there were 313 people left. However many soldiers there were initially is unclear, but the fact that 313 were left is confirmed by ahadith Bukhari, where the Sahaba would say, “We used to talk amongst ourselves, that our number at the battle of Badr was the same as the number of men who were with Talut when they fought against Jalut.” So however large the numbers were initially, they were left with some 313 soldiers, and some narrations mention that this Jalut, this Goliath, who was a big strong man, the strongest of his people; would lead his armies from the front, but wanted a one-on-one duel first, instead of just running over and crushing the army, he wanted to show his power and strength. So every day he would come out and challenge someone from the army of Bani Isra’il to come and face him in a hand-to-hand duel, and no one really had the courage to do so. This continued for a few days, and finally, a young boy by the name of Dawud took permission from his commander, Talut, to go forward and challenge Jalut. Now, narrations mention that Saul, Talut, had announced that, “Whoever can face Jalut and defeat him will get my daughter in marriage and will also be the ruler after me.” In any case, Dawud (AS) went forward with a slingshot, and, with that slingshot, met Jalut in the battlefield and launched a stone which struck Jalut between the eyes, defeating him.
The Qur’an says that Dawud, despite being a young boy, was granted knowledge of prophethood and made was made king. There are many narrations talking about what happened between this battle and Dawud (AS) becoming a prophet and ruler; many of these narrations are from Judaica, the Isra’iliyyat, but there is no real way to authenticate them; they talk about a power struggle between Talut and Dawud (AS), they talk about Talut trying to kill Dawud (AS), but what we do know is that Dawud, as a young boy, killed Jalut, and sometime after that, or soon after that, Allah (SWT) blessed him with prophethood and also made him a king. This was the first time that those two things that always moved in separate directions became united: kingdom and prophethood. Dawud (AS) was the first to be a king and a prophet of Allah (SWT), and additionally, Allah (SWT) gave him the Zabur, making him a messenger as well. What we have here is the major turnover for Bani Isra’il, where, after being oppressed for almost 500 years and going through difficult conditions and not being able to live peacefully in their own land; now they have a prophet and a king, and can secure all those things that they have missed out on during these past few centuries and their future looks much, much brighter at this point.
